# What makes the difference between soap and soap-free cleansers?



## macupjunkie (Dec 29, 2008)

I neverd pondered that question until today. I always knew soap = bad for skin, soap-free cleansers always for skin/face. But I was thinking about the clinique bar cleanser, is that not soap? or can you have a solid soap-free cleanser? What makes the difference, is it an ingredient that makes a soap a soap? This came to my mind because after using my bar cleanser for the first time, my face got that squeaky clean feeling.. which creeped me out.


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## Aniger86 (Dec 29, 2008)

That's a good question, I never thought about it. I've always used liquid face cleansers because I thought them to be more convinient and hygenic, but I think the issue with soap is that it is supposedly more harsh and dries the face out.


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## Dragonfly (Dec 29, 2008)

Some cleansers rely on oil to clean the skin.

The following comes from the Beauty Brains - it might answer some questions:

What Is The Difference Between Soap &amp; Surfactants

Itâ€™s easy to understand why people get confused by terms like soap, surfactant and syndet.

Personal care marketing companies often hijack words from science and repackage them as friendly marketing messages.

Unfortunately, everyoneâ€™s marketing message is different so words lose their focused definitions.

Thatâ€™s what has happened with these words. Weâ€™ll try to clear it up.

Surfactant Cleaners

Almost all cleansing products are based on surfactants. These molecules have a special construction, which makes them compatible with both oils and water. Since oil and water do not usually mix, you need surfactants to remove oils from skin and hair. Soaps and syndets are all surfactants. Detergent is just a synonym for surfactant.

Syndet Made Simple Syndet is a portmanteau word created by combining the words â€œsyntheticâ€ and â€œdetergentâ€. It was made up by the beauty industry to make products based on synthetic detergents sound sciencey and special. Synthetic detergent sounds nasty, dangerous and icky. Syndet sounds high tech, fun and friendly.

A common type of Syndet like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is made by reacting a fatty alcohols with acid.

Fatty Alcohol + Acid = Syndet

Soaps were the first surfatants people used for cleaning.

They are made by reacting fatty acids with a base (e.g. sodium hydroxide), a process called saponification.

Fatty Acid + Base = Soap

Three things make Soap different from Syndets.

1. Syndets start with fatty alcohols, which can be distilled from petroleum or derived from natural oils. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate can be made from either Coconut Oil or petroleum distillates. A by-product of soap making is glycerin, a natural moisturizer. Syndets must be formulated with glycerin or other moisturizing ingredients.

2. Reactions with metal ions. The primary problem with soap is that it reacts with metal ions to form a material that is insoluble (canâ€™t be dissolved) in water. This is what causes the â€œsoap s***â€ you see lining peopleâ€™s bathtubs and sinks. Syndets do not react like this so it is not a problem.

3. Formulating flexibility. From a formulation standpoint, syndets are much more flexible than soaps. Soaps are generally solids at room temperature and are limited in the number of ingredients you can incorporate in them. Syndets are liquids that can be thickened and made solid.

An example of a Syndet bar would be this La Roche-Posay Syndet bar. It uses standard surfactants like Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Coco-Betaine, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, etc.

Bottom Line:

As far as what you should get, that is up to you. If fragrance free is an issue, you could try the La Roche product. You could also try the Dove Bar or other syndet bar. The key to these things is to try different products until you find something you like. Everyoneâ€™s skin and preferences are different. Personal experimentation is your best option.


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## macupjunkie (Dec 29, 2008)

Originally Posted by *Dragonfly* /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some cleansers rely on oil to clean the skin.
The following comes from the Beauty Brains - it might answer some questions:

What Is The Difference Between Soap &amp; Surfactants

Itâ€™s easy to understand why people get confused by terms like soap, surfactant and syndet.

Personal care marketing companies often hijack words from science and repackage them as friendly marketing messages.

Unfortunately, everyoneâ€™s marketing message is different so words lose their focused definitions.

Thatâ€™s what has happened with these words. Weâ€™ll try to clear it up.

Surfactant Cleaners

Almost all cleansing products are based on surfactants. These molecules have a special construction, which makes them compatible with both oils and water. Since oil and water do not usually mix, you need surfactants to remove oils from skin and hair. Soaps and syndets are all surfactants. Detergent is just a synonym for surfactant.

Syndet Made Simple Syndet is a portmanteau word created by combining the words â€œsyntheticâ€ and â€œdetergentâ€. It was made up by the beauty industry to make products based on synthetic detergents sound sciencey and special. Synthetic detergent sounds nasty, dangerous and icky. Syndet sounds high tech, fun and friendly.

A common type of Syndet like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is made by reacting a fatty alcohols with acid.

Fatty Alcohol + Acid = Syndet

Soaps were the first surfatants people used for cleaning.

They are made by reacting fatty acids with a base (e.g. sodium hydroxide), a process called saponification.

Fatty Acid + Base = Soap

Three things make Soap different from Syndets.

1. Syndets start with fatty alcohols, which can be distilled from petroleum or derived from natural oils. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate can be made from either Coconut Oil or petroleum distillates. A by-product of soap making is glycerin, a natural moisturizer. Syndets must be formulated with glycerin or other moisturizing ingredients.

2. Reactions with metal ions. The primary problem with soap is that it reacts with metal ions to form a material that is insoluble (canâ€™t be dissolved) in water. This is what causes the â€œsoap s***â€ you see lining peopleâ€™s bathtubs and sinks. Syndets do not react like this so it is not a problem.

3. Formulating flexibility. From a formulation standpoint, syndets are much more flexible than soaps. Soaps are generally solids at room temperature and are limited in the number of ingredients you can incorporate in them. Syndets are liquids that can be thickened and made solid.

An example of a Syndet bar would be this La Roche-Posay Syndet bar. It uses standard surfactants like Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Coco-Betaine, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, etc.

Bottom Line:

As far as what you should get, that is up to you. If fragrance free is an issue, you could try the La Roche product. You could also try the Dove Bar or other syndet bar. The key to these things is to try different products until you find something you like. Everyoneâ€™s skin and preferences are different. Personal experimentation is your best option.

Oohh, that explains it a lot, thx for that! now I just have to look for the soap packaging and see if the ingredients are listed.. where did i put it?


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## magosienne (Dec 30, 2008)

That post from the beautybrains is very informative, thanks !

Syndets are the worst kind for me, i think, but basically the ingredient i look for is sodium laureth sulfate, if i use it you can be sure my skin will be dry, itchy and irritated. It's really annoying as most of the supermarket stuff contains sodium laureth sulfate (which is i read also very cheap to produce).


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